One of the biggest myths out there about student accommodation is that it’s too expensive. Well... that’s not true.

There’s actually a huge variety of student accommodation in London and most of the other large cities of the UK too. The secret? Start looking early! The early bird takes the worm. The cheapest rooms and the best deals always go first.

Many people think you just need a bed and you should be happy with your “accommodation”. Maybe a few decades ago that was true, but times have changed, and nowadays you should have certain expectations for your accommodation. Wi-Fi and central heating being an absolute must.

This is one of those myths that exist thanks to a tiny minority of students who spoil it for the rest. Truth is, with tuition fees rising dramatically, students know that damaging their house means a deduction off their deposit, so they actually take much better care of their accommodation than they’re given credit for.

Most landlords assume you’ll only move in around September and will use that time to perform works on their house. But many students - especially internationals - come back a week or more earlier. If this is the case for you, make sure you let your landlord know in advance!

There are actually two conflicting myths regarding location. One says you don’t care about location, (i.e. if it’s in a nasty area), whilst others claim that you don’t want to live more than 2 miles away from campus.

The truth of the matter is that, one way or another, you do care where your house is located. In fact, Uniplaces studies revealed that location was the main concern for over 50% of students in the main cities of the UK.

The only way this myth isn’t busted is if you only include Freshers in it.

It’s common that most first year students live in student halls, but you’ll be hard pressed to find second year students and above still living there. Most students tend to move into a place with their uni friends after the first year.

Although you want to start looking for next year’s accommodation early, let’s not exaggerate. It’s more important that you find a cool group of people you actually want to live with and then start looking. Just remember that the early bird gets the worm, so, as mentioned above, the great deals are to be found early, but only once you have found your dream flatmates.